Upcoming veto session could deal with ending nuclear moratorium in Illinois

[August 19, 2023]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – With six days of veto session planned for the Illinois General Assembly this fall, legislators will have their hands full dealing with the state’s energy policies.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed a measure that would have lifted the moratorium on new nuclear power facilities that has been in place for decades. He said the proposal changed at the last minute before it cleared the General Assembly last spring.

“There was nothing to line-item, essentially amend without vetoing the entire bill in order to separate the question of whether you’re going to have large scale reactors developed in Illinois or whether you’re talking about [small modular reactors],” Pritzker said.

Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, criticized the governor’s reasoning for the veto.

“The amendment in the House was in direct response to concerns expressed by the governor, so this really came out of left field for everyone,” Curran told The Center Square.

Curran said the bipartisan measure passed with veto-proof majorities and is meant to help control rising energy costs in the face of the governor’s renewable energy mandates.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, hopes the House and Senate Democrats stand strong on their original votes for the bipartisan legislation.

“So I hope that the Democrats are putting pressure on the administration to bring those forward and let’s call them for a vote,” McCombie told The Center Square.

State Rep. Jay Hoffman, the House assistant majority leader, pushed for lifting the moratorium for nuclear and for supporting changes to other bills the governor made.

“I personally believe that we should move forward with assuring that small nuclear moves forward,” Hoffman told The Center Square. “We should also accept the amendatory veto on private-public partnerships so we can move forward with some of the biggest construction jobs we’re going to be facing here in Illinois.”

Hoffman discussed the changes Pritzker made to a bill about procurement issues. The governor’s office said the changes made to House Bill 2878 were because the bill allows for the creation of public-private partnerships with counties, municipalities and any other unit of local government without proper oversight in place.

Another measure the governor vetoed was a bill to give Ameren Illinois right of first refusal to build certain transmission lines.

To override a veto takes a three-fifths vote in both chambers.

The six-days of veto session begins Oct. 24 and ends Nov. 10.